Suring duo rap on Chicago stage

Arianna Sepulveda and Anna Wood, juniors at Suring High School, performed their original rap song for nearly 2,000 other students and educators at a workshop held before they attended the musical Hamilton in Chicago.(Photo: Courtesy Hamilton Education Program)

Two Suring students performed their original rap song before nearly 2,000 students and educators from 24 schools on their trip last month see the hit musical “Hamilton’ in Chicago.

Anna Wood and Arianna Sepulveda received high praise from the emcee Colby Lewis.

“That beat was lit!” said Lewis, who portrayed George Washington in the show that afternoon.

The juniors – along with 31 classmates and five teachers – attended the hit musical through the Hamilton Education Program, which provides tickets for just $10 (the bill on which the nation’s first secretary of the Treasury is pictured), down from the regular price of $200 to $600.

The program is open to public school students in New York City, San Francisco and Chicago – where the show is currently being staged.

Suring English teacher Kristen Trader applied for the program a year ago, after completing a unit on the show, but was notified Suring wasn’t eligible at that time, though it’s application would be retained.

Trader learned Sept. 1 the school was accepted to attend the Dec. 13 workshop and show. A part of their attendance, students had to research a person, event, or historical document and create a written performance piece – rap, song, poem, monologue, etc. – about it to perform at their school.

All the written work had to be submitted to the program, along with a video of the one judge the best.

That was judged to be Wood’s and Sepulveda’s rap, which about John Laurens, a close friend of founding father Alexander Hamilton. Laurens led the fight to give slaves the ability to fight in the Revolutionary War and be freed for their military service following the war. But Laurens was killed in the war at age 27, and his fight for their freedom was never realized.

Sepulveda said the words were written first.

‘Every beat we tried, we rapped it, and if we didn’t feel it we’d go on to a different one,” she said. “We got to Yankee Doodle, and we sped it up a little bit, and it just fit.”

The project of the Suring students was just among 13 to be selected to presented at the workshop.

Video of the performance shows a Sepulveda and Wood confidently running through the song – which used the familiar Yankee Doodle tune as a base – smiling nearly the entire time.

“The other performances were very good, but ours I would rank right up with the top performances,” Trader said. “It was just awesome.”

Lewis, the emcee, even asked that the music be played again between two other performances, she added.

Sepulveda and Wood, along with the rest of the students performing at the workshop, had to wait backstage without chaperones for their turn.

“Everyone back there was very friendly, and had the energy and was pumped and read to go,” Sepulveda said. “That helped a lot. We were all saying ‘we can do it, we can all do it.”

The initial scariness of performing subsided quickly.

“At first I was really nervous, and then when we got on stage, we didn’t think anything of it,” Sepulveda said. “We kind of just had fun.”

Wood said that seeing all the talented students performing ahead of them was intimidating, but her fears ended when she stepped on stage.

“I think the best part was seeing how proud everyone was,” she said. “It felt really good to be able to have this experience and represent Suring School and the community with this amazing opportunity.”

Wood said the experience built her self-confidence.

“I know for a fact that a few years ago, or even last year, I never would have been brave enough to do anything like this,” she said.

After the performances, five members of the cast answered questions from students about the show, performing in the theater, as well as the perseverance and luck it takes to land a role, Trader said.

After lunch at the Palmer House, the students attended the show.

Trader said the response of students was fulfilling, as she saw them “on the edge of their seats, leaning forward, and trying to take it all in.”

Trader heard from parents that their children just didn’t say the show was good, but explained it in detail.

“One student is trying to figure out how to get back and see it again,” Trader said.

Wood called the show “incredible.”

“I think anyone can find enjoyment in Hamilton. Whether it be the history, or the music, or anything,” she said. “So many different kinds of people come from everywhere to see this musical, so I think anybody would love it.”